BBC claims victory in ratings war

Doctor Who proved a ratings hit for BBC1 on Christmas Day
12 April 2012

The BBC is claiming victory in the Christmas Day TV viewing battle with eight of the top ten most-watched shows.

BBC1's big-hitters included Doctor Who, with more than 11 million tuning in to see the reworking of seasonal favourite A Christmas Carol, as the channel took all of the top five shows.

The best-viewed show of the day proved to be an hour-long edition of EastEnders with an average of 11.4 million who tuned in to see Stacey Branning exit Albert Square after first scrapping with Janine Malloy (Charlie Brooks).

BBC1 usually tends to dominate the TV remote control on Christmas Day, but ITV1 had the upper hand on Christmas Eve with a higher share of peak-time viewing and a 10.6 million audience for its edition of Coronation Street - its biggest December 25 episode since 2007.

There was some good news for ITV1 on Christmas Day too as the channel increased its share of viewers slightly compared to 2009. However it achieved only two spots in the top ten, with Coronation Street leading the fight at number six with nine million viewers.

One of the BBC's biggest successes was the debut of Matt Lucas and David Walliams's new show Come Fly With Me, which was the second highest rated show of the day. The comedy, set in an airport with all-new characters, had an average of 10.3 million viewers and has nudged its way into the top ten shows of the year at number ten. It was up against ITV1's big two-hour drama Poirot which landed 4.2 million viewers.

Doctor Who drew an average of 10.3 million viewers - with 11.5 million tuning in at its peak - down slightly by 100,000 viewers on last year, and the lowest audience for a Christmas Day edition since 2006.

Strictly Come Dancing's seasonal special proved to be a much bigger draw than the previous year as viewers tuned in to see stars such as Business Secretary Vince Cable go through their paces on the dance floor, just days after he was stripped of some of his powers. The show pulled in an average of 9.4 million, up on 2009's 6.8 million.

Ronnie Corbett's return to centre stage with his One Ronnie show - a nostalgic evocation of his Two Ronnies days with a number of guest stars filling the place of the late Ronnie Barker - proved to be a big hit with 7.9 million viewers, and seventh place in the Christmas Day top ten.

Across the peak-time slots - from 6pm to 10.30pm, BBC1 had an average audience of 10.2 million, while ITV1 drew 6.1 million. A spokesman for ITV said: "We're pleased that viewers enjoyed a broad range of programming across this year's Christmas schedule and that ITV1 increased its share of peak time viewing."

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